Current Affairs of 24 Jan 2018

• This bill will be first of its kind to extensively reform existing legislation on road safety, the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

• A digitized, uniform driver licensing system will go a long way in ensuring ease of access, efficiency and transparency in the filtering process.

• It also proposes to introduce digitization in the monitoring and enforcement of traffic laws.

• It also has provision for the use of protective headgear by every person above the age of four driving, riding or being carried on a two-wheeler.

• India is a signatory of “Brasilia Declaration on Road Safety”, under which India has committed to reducing, by 2020, the number of road crash fatalities and serious injuries by 50%.

2. PM Modi addressed the largest Panchayat of Economics

• While addressing the World Economic Forum 2018 in Davos, Indian Prime Minister Modi expressed his concern over three global threats- Climate change, Terrorism and Protectionism.

• The theme of WEF 2018 is “Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World”.

• The World Economic Forum is a non-profit organization, situated in the Eastern Alps hills and committed to improve the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas.

3. BharatNet Project: Priority to North-eastern region

• The government has planned Rs 1500 crore investment to set up mobile towers in the Northeastern region as well as increasing broadband connectivity through the BharatNet project.

• This plan includes expanding in some strategically important areas –including those such as Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim.

• There are 2805 villages, which will be covered in Arunachal Pradesh with 1893 telecom towers, apart from 149 along the National Highways in the state.

• BharatNet is telecom infrastructure provider, set up by the GOI under Telecom Department for the establishment, management and operation of National Open Fibre Network to provide a minimum of 100 Mbps broadband connectivity to each one of all 2,50,000 Gram Panchayats in the country.

4. Eight types of cancer can be detected by Single blood test

• A blood test which is named as CancerSEEK, can help in the early diagnoses of eight common cancer types and helps identify the location of the disease.

• This test is a unique non-invasive, multi-analytic test that simultaneously evaluates levels of eight cancer proteins and the presence of cancer gene mutations from circulating DNA in the blood.

• The test is helpful for the stages I to III cancers of the ovary, liver, stomach, pancreas, esophagus, colorectum, lung and breast.

5. Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) Vijaya is launched

• This is the second Patrol vessel of India after Vikram class Patrol vessel.

• It is equipped with state-of the art radar, navigational and communication system.

• The indigenously built vessel will be utilized for day and night patrol and surveillance.